~ the illustrated garden studio blog

Tag Archives: Books

A used bookstore is like a gem mine. Poke around for awhile, and you just might unearth an unexpected treasure — for example, a lovely 1887 edition of Burrough’s wise and luminous essays on the natural world. Tramping through his beloved Catskill Mountains, he pondered whether the rapid scientific advances of his day would diminish the grip of field and flower, woodlands and weather, on human imagination:

“Science does not mar nature… Study of nature deepens the mystery and the charm because it removes the horizon father off. We cease to fear, perhaps, but how can one cease to marvel and to love?”

Work moves forward on “A Field Guide to Fairies.” And for help in the accurate identification of any tiny folk spotted in your home or garden, here is a helpful guide to the differences between the two varieties common to the southeastern United States, where I live: fairies and brownies. It’s too hot here for elves — and in recent decades the rapid development of real estate has eliminated the habitat of gnomes — so what you’re going to spot in this region will be one of the two diminutive creatures illustrated here.

I’ve learned a great deal in the past few weeks, spending time in the field with a sketchbook and a pair of binoculars, staking out gardens and tool sheds and other places favorable for close observation. For example, did you realize that the common house sparrow often serves as a babysitter to the local brownie population? The energetic little bird provides childcare to an infant roughly the size of a pecan, while industrious brownie parents are occupied with their secretive benevolent (or occasionally mischievous) deeds. I spotted a mother sparrow tucking a tiny brownie into a nest under the eaves of my patio. Who could have guessed?

I’m writing a field guide. But not featuring the usual flora or fauna… this one will provide detailed information on fairies, brownies and elves of the southeastern United States. (Southern brownies are notorious egg thieves, in case you happen to have an unguarded henhouse. And garden fairies of the South have a weakness for heirloom tomatoes, although they never take one without leaving something else in return.)

I’ll share some of the sketches and finished illustrations as the book moves forward. All the text will be hand lettered, so it’s a fairly ambitous project. This will be fun!

A bird’s nest is a tiny marvel of architecture, a puzzle that requires looking deeply into a tangle of twigs and straw, then gradually sorting it all out in layers of watercolor. To draw a bird’s nest, you must first heed the age-old advice of zen masters and high school math teachers everywhere: pay attention.

I’ve been thinking about birds this week, and about paying attention, mostly because I am halfway through an unexpectedly wonderful book:

I picked it up a few weeks ago at the bookstore, attracted by the beautiful linocuts that illustrate each chapter. They are the work of Seattle-area artist Daniel Cautrell (whose unique approach to public art consists of creating elaborate and anonymous wood carvings on felled trees by the roadside, then leaving them for the enjoyment of passing drivers).

The book is naturalist Lyanda Lynn Haupt’s account of a personal journey of discovery, her gradual realization that the wild world is everywhere — even in the heart of the city. And as she writes about crows, the wily and adaptive survivors who thrive and multiply alongside the human population, she reminds us to look for the ways that nature has followed us into the urban world. It’s out there in the back yard, in the corners of the garden shed, under the rafters of the house. All we have to do is pay attention.

First of all, they really should call it something else. Here is a stack of recent books I’ve received through paperbackswap.com and — to my delight — actual paperbacks are few and far between. Instead, what I’ve been receiving are lovely (sometimes right off the bookstore shelves) hardbacks . Take a look:

I’ve been using the site for about a year now. There are no charges for anything, and the idea is simple: You sign up, then post 10 books you would like to swap with other paperbackswap.com members. Just for signing up, you receive 1 credit for a free book — which you select by browsing the 4 million titles currently listed by others. They are arranged by topics and include both fiction and nonfiction; I like gardening, nature and art. When you find a book you want, you select it and it is mailed to you within 3 days by the member who posted it. When you receive their book, they get a credit to select a free book. And so on.

I’m hosting a workshop for aspiring authors and illustrators (as well as teachers, librarians or anyone else who loves children’s books) on Sept. 19 at my studio in Mobile, Alabama. This will be a Saturday afternoon workshop, from 1:30 until 5:30. The cost is $45, and includes illustrated take-home resource materials. Come be informed and inspired!

The workshop covers:

current trends in the children’s book market

layout and page design

copyright protection

how to write a query letter

what to put in a submissions package

using images to move a story forward

what should be included in a publishing contract

how to build an illustration portfolio

child-oriented magazine and greeting card markets

individual feedback

This is always a very interactive workshop, with lots of questions and discussion, all in an informal setting. It’s also an opportunity to meet other people in the area who have an abiding interest in children’s books. And it’s just plain fun.

For more information — or to reserve a spot in the workshop — email me at studio@valwebb.com or send me a Facebook message.

(Added on Aug. 29: The contest has ended. Congratulations to Rain Keane, and please watch for next month’s giveaway.)

Some of my favorite gardening books are art books, as well. A Growing Gardener is New York city artist Abbie Zabar’s illustrated journal of a year in her rooftop Manhattan garden. Pruning topiaries, transplanting seedlings, the nesting habits of mockingbirds — it’s all here, drawn in exuberant colored pencil or elegant pen-and-ink. Page by page and plant by plant, urban gardener Abbie manages to create an elaborate little habitat in her 200-square-foot piece of paradise.

Leave a comment after this post, and in one week I’ll let random.org select the winner of a copy of A Growing Gardener. I’ll even tuck a little surprise from my art studio inside the front cover. Good luck!

There was a wonderful surprise in my email inbox last night: a message from amazing Chicago artist Anne Leuck Feldhaus. No one on the planet paints a dog quite the way Anne does. Her vividly colored canines leap and fly across the canvas, a kaleidoscope of paws and ears and wagging tails. I dare you to look at her artwork without smiling.

Not long ago, Anne asked for feedback on her web site. She entered all the commenters in a give-away drawing for a signed black poodle print, and to my delight (it’s a beautiful print) and complete amazement (I never win ANYTHING) my comment won. Thank you, Anne!

Now I’m inspired to have my own give-away. Here’s the deal:

1. Leave a comment at the end of this post. (If you have a favorite garden-related book to recommend, I’d love to know about it.)

2. One week from today, on Nov. 21, I’ll use random.org to select the winner.

3. The give-away goodies include The 20-Minute Gardener by Tom Christopher and Marty Asher; a Garden Days Journal by Karen Strohbeen and Bill Luchsinger; and a handbound blank book I made. (It has cream-colored writing paper inside, and is covered in fabric purchased several years ago in San Francisco’s Chinatown. I have written and drawn some inspirations on one page of the blank book … and to round out the whole package, I’m also including a raku kitty cat ornament from the clay studio.)

You can never have too many books. Good luck!

Take an online art class:

Follow this blog via email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.